by BestCards Team | Last updated on November 15th, 2023
The Educator's Rewards Visa Platinum Card
The Educator's Rewards Visa Platinum Card
The Educator's Rewards Visa Platinum Card
- 16.99% to 18% variable based on creditworthiness and the Prime Rate Regular Purchase APR
- 16.99% to 18% variable based on creditworthiness and the Prime Rate Balance Transfer APR
- 16.99% to 18% variable based on creditworthiness and the Prime Rate Cash Advance APR
- 0% for 12 months from account opening date Intro Purchase APR
At a Glance
The Educator’s Rewards Visa Platinum Card from BrightStar Credit Union earns cardholders points on all qualifying purchases. This card offers new cardholders an introductory 0% APR for 12 months on purchases. Additionally, new cardholders can take advantage of a reduced APR for 12 months on balance transfers. What’s more, there are no fees for balance transfers with this card. All of these benefits are available to you with no annual fee.
- Best Benefits
- Rates & Fees
- Why Should You Apply?
- No annual fee
- 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases
- Reduced introductory APR for 12 months with no fee on balance transfers
- Earn points on your purchases
- Intro Purchase APR: 0% for 12 months from account opening date
- Regular Purchase APR: 16.99% to 18% variable based on creditworthiness and the Prime Rate
- Intro Balance Transfer APR: 2.49% for 12 months on transfers made within 60 days from account opening date
- Balance Transfer APR: 16.99% to 18% variable based on creditworthiness and the Prime Rate
- Cash Advance APR: 16.99% to 18% variable based on creditworthiness and the Prime Rate
- Cash Advance Transaction Fee: $1 ATM Cash Advance Transaction Fee
- Foreign Transaction Fee: up to 1% of the transaction amount in U.S. dollars
- Late Payment Penalty Fee: Up to $25
- Return Payment Penalty Fee: Up to $25
- You're school faculty or staff working in the state of Florida
- You don’t want to pay an annual fee to use a credit card
- You want to earn points on your purchases
- You would like to receive 0% APR for 12 months on purchases
- You need to transfer a credit card balance and wish to pay it off in 12 months
The Educator’s Rewards Visa Platinum Card Review
The Educator’s Rewards Visa Platinum Card is a credit card especially geared towards school employees working in Florida. As a rewards card, this card earns cardholders points on their purchases. Cardholders can then redeem those points for gift cards, cash back, or travel vouchers. New cardholders can also take advantage of 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases. Once you sign up, you also have 12 months of reduced interest on balance transfers for 12 months. What’s more, there isn’t a balance transfer fee with this card. This credit card also features the same interest rates regardless of the transaction that you perform. Many other credit cards charge significantly more interest on cash advances, for instance. With this card, your regular purchase APR also applies to cash advances and balance transfers. Furthermore, there is no annual fee associated with this credit card. Read the sections below to learn more about the details of this credit card.
Earn Points on Your Purchases
One of the main features of the Educator’s Rewards Visa Platinum Card is the fact that you can earn points on your purchases. You can then redeem your points for gift cards, cash back, and travel. You can use your points to obtain items on the ScoreCard rewards website. What’s great about this website is that you can browse the rewards catalog before you apply for this credit card. However, you won’t know how many points you need to obtain an item before you get approved for this card and create a login. On that note, there are few additional details about this card’s points system on the BrightStar website. For instance, there is no information on how many points you earn for every dollar you spend. Additionally, the website provides no information on when you receive your points or how you can redeem them. With this in mind, it’s difficult to determine what the value of your points will be. The good news is that this Rewards Visa Platinum Card seems to feature a straightforward earning system. This means that there are no points tiers to worry about or spending categories to memorize. Each purchase will earn you the same number of points, regardless of what you purchase.
The Same APR for All Transactions
One of the unique features of the Educator’s Rewards Visa Platinum Card is that there aren’t different interest rates for different types of transactions. Instead, the regular purchase APR applies to multiple types of transactions. This means that whatever APR you’re approved for will be the same for purchases, cash advances, and balance transfers. This differs from many other credit cards. Some credit cards feature a separate balance transfer fee that may be slightly more than the regular purchase APR. There are also no balance transfer fees with this card. Most credit cards also charge a higher cash advance fee. In addition, many credit cards charge a high cash advance fee. This isn’t the case with this Educator’s Rewards Card. The cash advance APR is the same for cash advances as it is for purchases. Additionally, this card only charges a $1.00 fee for cash advances.
0% APR on Purchases
Another great feature of the Educator’s Rewards Visa Platinum Card is that it offers new cardholders 0% APR when they first sign up for this card. This deal lasts for 12 months from the date that you open an account. This detail can be very attractive for people who need to make a large purchase or several large purchases all at once. This 0% APR deal can almost be like those zero-interest financing deals you for appliance or furniture purchases. However, you can use this offer for anything you want to purchase. What’s important, however, is to decide what you need to purchase early on. It’s actually preferable that you make this decision before applying for this card. This is because the 12-month promotion period begins on the date you sign up for this card and not the date you make the purchase. As such, waiting too long to make a large purchase means you’ll have less time to pay it off. Remember that any balance that remains on your credit card after the 12 months are up will automatically accrue interest.
Reduced APR on Balance Transfers
The Educator’s Rewards Visa Platinum Card offers a similar promotion on balance transfers, too. However, this APR is more than what it is for purchases. New cardholders have 12 months of a reduced interest rate for balance transfers. While it’s not 0%, it is less than half of the lowest possible regular APR. Now, there is a detail about this offer that somewhat makes up for the higher APR. The 12-month promotional period begins on the date that you make the transfer. However, you only have 60 days from the date that you sign up for this card to make a transfer and access this perk. This balance transfer feature can help you pay off a credit card balance on a higher-interest credit card. However, it may not be so good if you have an especially large balance. It’s recommended that you pay off a credit card debt with cash. If your balance is very high, making monthly payments within 12 months can place additional financial strain on you.
Should You Apply for The Educator’s Rewards Visa Platinum Card?
BrightStar Credit Union is a Florida-based credit union. As such, membership is limited to people who work or live within certain counties in the state of Florida. Additionally, the Educator’s Rewards Visa Platinum Card is only available to school faculty and staff. If you meet the above requirements, this credit card can be a great addition to your wallet. The low potential APR and lack of annual fee are enough reason to apply for this card. If you add points, as well as balance transfer and purchase APR promotions, this is a card to have in the long haul.
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